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Vance Elliott DeGeneres (born September 2, 1954, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American actor, musician, film producer and screenwriter, known for his work in television. He is the older brother of actress and comedian Ellen DeGeneres. After a two-year stint in the Marine Corps, during which he reached the rank of corporal, DeGeneres hosted a radio program called New Wave New Orleans in the late 1970s, broadcast on WRNO-FM. He played bass guitar in The Cold, a new-wave band based in New Orleans in the early 1980s. He originated the role of "Mr. Hands" in Walter Williams's Mr. Bill short... MORE

Vance Elliott DeGeneres (born September 2, 1954, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American actor, musician, film producer and screenwriter, known for his work in television. He is the older brother of actress and comedian Ellen DeGeneres. After a two-year stint in the Marine Corps, during which he reached the rank of corporal, DeGeneres hosted a radio program called New Wave New Orleans in the late 1970s, broadcast on WRNO-FM. He played bass guitar in The Cold, a new-wave band based in New Orleans in the early 1980s. He originated the role of "Mr. Hands" in Walter Williams's Mr. Bill short films in the mid-1970s. According to the 1986 book Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live, DeGeneres sued Williams in federal court in 1979, asking for his name on the Mr. Bill copyright and for half of all profits the Mr. Bill character produced. After a two-day hearing, DeGeneres received an undisclosed portion of merchandising rights to Mr. Bill. However, the judge ruled that Mr. Bill was Williams's "basic idea and concept." In the mid-1980s, DeGeneres co-founded the short-lived rock band called House of Schock with The Go-Go's drummer Gina Schock. In 1998, he played LESS